


Prelude to The Forgotten Empire

by stellacadente



Series: Fictober 2018 [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Companions are back before canon, F/M, Felix winds up with Elara Dorne just fyi, It's my favorite rarepair, Knights of the Eternal Throne, Knights of the Fallen Empire, My AU of the Expansions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 12:31:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 8,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16555814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacadente/pseuds/stellacadente
Summary: Fictober 2018 on Tumblr meant 31 new stories. They fell into a couple of related subjects, so I’m grouping them together and posting them as their own series.I’ve reordered them to be as close to chronological order as possible, not in the order they appeared during the month.These are stories that involve my Sith Warrior Xhareen and/or Malavai Quinn during the Knights of the Fallen Empire-Knights of the Eternal Throne era (with a Ziost prequel). They might eventually go into my rewrite of those expansions, The Forgotten Empire, so I’m calling this the prelude.





	1. No Worries. We Still Have Time.

**Author's Note:**

> _After the Shadow of Revan conclusion on Yavin. **Spoilers** for my mainverse fic, which is [here](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F4757990%3Fview_full_work%3Dtrue&t=NWJkNzY0OTM1NjY3NzkxMzBjMzI1ZGFkMmZlMDU2ODRmYzlmNzc2OCxzS1RzbG9WTQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AhszoM1qXjfhqZ94AhaU-oQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Faliyamirat.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F178823147396%2Fno-worries-we-still-have-time&m=1). Or you can just read the Yavin conclusion [here](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F4757990%2Fchapters%2F33509280%23workskin&t=NjlhYjgyOTVkZWNkMDVlZDVlYTFkOGFjYzU0OTY0NmU0NjE5YTM3NCxzS1RzbG9WTQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AhszoM1qXjfhqZ94AhaU-oQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Faliyamirat.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F178823147396%2Fno-worries-we-still-have-time&m=1). _

**_On Ziost_ **

Quinn was surprised how easily he and Xhareen fell into domestic bliss. Well, Xhareen’s transformation surprised him. Quinn enjoyed the discipline of living on a military base – daily routines, scheduled training exercises, daytime meals at the same time every day. He assumed married life would have at least some of these features.

Xhareen tried her best at having a meal ready shortly after he returned to their modest billet each day. It wasn’t always edible, however, even with Toovee’s help, and more than a few nights, the two of them spent time preparing something quick and easy. He had to admit, those were probably his favorite meals of his whole life. 

Their other friends who stayed on the second floor of the dwelling – right now, it was Jaesa, Vette, Broonmark and Treek – usually went elsewhere for their meals. Broonmark and Treek usually caught their own. That left the two of them alone for private, intimate time they both desperately needed.

But when he got home on this night, Xhareen hadn’t even begun to prepare anything. He panicked, thinking something horrible must have happened. He ran to the upper floor where they stayed. She was sitting on the floor next to the bed, in the dark, her personal holo sitting next to her.

“Darling, are you OK?”

She nodded. He wasn’t convinced. He sat down next to her, and waited for her to talk when she was ready.

She leaned into his arm, which he moved and put around her shoulder. A few minutes later, she spoke.

“Myroli sent a holo from Releah’s grave. It’s … beautiful.”

Quinn had long dealt with his own feelings of jealousy over Xhareen’s ex-lover. He had fought bravely and sacrificed everything for the Empire that would only barely acknowledge his existence, solely because he was Chiss. Quinn’s envy had transformed into admiration. At least the man had been worthy of the love of someone like his wife.

“Perhaps I can get a few days’ leave and we can go visit,” Quinn said.

“I’m not sure I’m ready to return to Yavin, even for Releah,” Xhareen admitted.

He hugged her. “No worries, my love. We still have time.”

She shrugged. Something else – something larger, something ineffable – was bothering her. He decided to ignore it.

“How about we go out to that new off-base restaurant in New Adasta. I hear it’s clean and quiet.”

She stood up and brushed off her pants. “Casual, I hope. I’m not in the mood for dressing up.”

He smiled. There was rarely anything that would keep her from food and for now, that was all the comfort either of them needed.

 


	2. I felt it. You know what I mean.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Rissa Quinn D’Arville is Malavai’s younger sister by 10 years. She has always idolized her big brother, even though in some ways she barely knew him – she was a toddler when he was bundled off to prep school and he left for the military academy right after. But in other ways, she knew him maybe better than he knew himself. She has always been his biggest champion.]

Quinn’s head thrummed so hard he thought the beeping was just his brain’s way of warning him of an impending aneurysm. He’d spent the past four days camped out in Moff Lorman’s – correction,  _Minister_  Lorman’s – office, hoping to get a meeting. Hoping to convince him that The Empire’s Wrath wasn’t dead and to just give him a small military contingent to go searching for her. 

Finally, he’d come home to shower and sleep and regroup. Lorman and his staff, an unusually incompetent group, were not going to be convinced by the direct approach. Reminding them he was Darth Marr’s liaison was useless, now that it was confirmed that the Empire’s guiding hand was dead. 

It had only been two weeks. He knew Xhareen was alive. There was still time to track down all the escape pods. Three survivors had been identified as prisoners of war by the Republic just yesterday. 

More importantly, he could feel her. Their Force bond was stronger than ever, like she was reaching out to him. It was especially strong at night as he slept. 

He’d done the research and it was clear that a powerful Sith could form a Force bond with someone close to them regardless of whether the target was Force sensitive. He carried a special data spike with him citing all the old texts so that no one, especially not a cretin like Lorman, would think Quinn was suggesting a 40-year-old man had spontaneously developed Force powers. 

“Fucking Lorman,” he moaned as he sat upright, realizing that it wasn’t his head buzzing, but his holocomm. He slapped the on button and growled, “What?” 

“Mal, are you OK?” It was his younger sister, Rissa. “I was going to end the call and just come over. You had me so worried.” 

Rissa had not been doing well, either, although she was hiding it with great skill. Her husband, Callen, was killed fighting the unknown power that attacked Korriban – the one that turned out to be the Eternal Empire, somehow connected to Vitiate, and to Xhareen’s disappearance, and Darth Marr’s death. 

“Sorry, Rissa, are you OK? How’s my nephew?” 

“Little Malavai is fine. He never really even knew his father. He’s napping like nothing’s wrong.” 

But something was wrong. Everything was wrong. The Empire and the Republic had stopped fighting, each regrouping and licking their wounds after a merciless throttling by a clearly superior power. 

But his baby sister was taking her husband’s death well – too well, Malavai worried. She didn’t even cry when the word came, his mother had said. She stood stoically during the funeral. Kayda got her drunk and she finally let her grief loose, but they all accepted this was not an ongoing coping strategy. 

“And you? I asked about you,” he said. 

“I’m fine, Mal. I know Callen is gone. I’m more worried about you.”

“Don’t be. Xhareen isn’t dead and that’s not me being in denial.”

“I know. She told us when you two were separated about your bond. I believe you, that you can sense she’s still alive.” 

Something in the tone of her voice, the way she upturned her head – what did she know? Her preternatural calm in the wake of her husband’s death, leaving her a young widow with a small child … 

“How have you managed to be so collected, Rissa?” Kayda had informed him that, despite them being separated by Callen’s deployments, they were a strong, loving couple. He had been looking forward to an extended leave to get to know his son when the Eternal Throne blindsided the entire galaxy. His entire battlegroup had been eliminated on a routine patrol. 

“I felt it. You know what I mean,” she said, barely a whisper. “I knew he was gone before the call came from High Command.” 

Was she suggesting a Force bond? How could that be? “Rissa, are you saying …?” 

She nodded and sighed. “I’ve known for a while that I was slightly Force sensitive. It manifested too late to be of much use, though. And by then, the Empire had opened up Sith training to gifted aliens, so condemning Imperials with just a trace of Force power to certain death at the training academies was no longer a thing.” 

Was there a more direct Sith lineage than anyone in the family had known before? This was more than his starved body and brain could handle. 

“And before you ask, brother, I believe it’s from Mother’s line but as you might be able to guess, I’m not probing any further.” 

No, she wouldn’t. Rissa always kept everyone else’s well-being at the forefront. 

“So, you can read minds then?” he asked, a smile creeping across his unshaven face. 

“I can read you like a book. The rest is just analyzing data.” 

“Can I come over instead? I need to be with family right now,” he asked, practically pleading. 

“Of course. We can talk about a better way to convince the powers that be that they should let you find your wife.” 

“I will be there shortly,” he said as they signed off. 

It was good to know he still had a family to lean on. He hoped it wouldn’t be for long, but for now, he wasn’t going to turn down their help.


	3. I Thought You Had Forgotten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cake incident is spelled out [here ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8170711)in The Great Chocolate Caper, totally a Xhareen and Vette Production™. There will be one year Quinn misses Vette’s cake, but we’ll get to that when I rewrite this whole mess. 

**_On Dromund Kaas_ **

The holo was buzzing, begging to be answered. But Quinn let it buzz a few seconds longer before turning it on.

“Thanks for making me wait, Jerkface.”

It had been so long since he heard that name or that voice and he couldn’t be happier.  “You have no idea how overjoyed it makes me, hearing you say that, Vette.”

She made an exaggerated gesture of looking him over. “Getting a little skinny there, Captain House Pants.”

He shrugged. “They feed you in Imperial prison, just not very well.” Six months was nothing if it was for his wife. He had only gotten out last week and was just now getting over the wave of melancholia he felt when she wasn’t here, waiting for him.

“You better get some of that muscle tone back,” Vette chided. “Xhareen will be very disappointed when she comes home and sees you all skinny in baggy uniforms and stuff. She is coming back. I still know it.”

He did, too, although he could no longer just sit here on Dromund Kaas and wait. He didn’t want to keep butting heads with Lorman and the opposition who wanted to blame all the Empire’s woes on the Wrath. They conveniently forgot that the Eternal Throne devastated Korriban and multiple worlds before Xhareen killed their supposed Immortal Emperor.

“Vette, I was going to contact you anyway. I know you’re on Nar Shaddaa and yes, this is a secure channel. You set it up, remember? I’ve resigned my commission and I can’t stay here. I don’t want to, anymore. I must go find her. I know she’s out there.”

Vette sniffled a little. “Dammit, I was calling to thank you for the birthday gift. Now I’m all sad.”

“Don’t be. We’ll get her back,” he said. “Do whatever you can, please. I’m going to bug my sister to stay here and you can always contact her if you find out anything. I’m setting up a relay now to find me in that event.”

“Of course, Quinn. And thanks for the cake. I remember you blackmailing us for a piece of it. I mean, it  _was_  a little late for my birthday, but I thought you had forgotten. Glad to be wrong and what with being in prison and all, I’ll give you a pass this year.”

He made a vow then and there to himself as they said their goodbyes. Wherever he was in the galaxy, however long it took him to find Xhareen, he would never forget to send Vette a birthday cake.

 


	4. Take What You Need

**_Dromund Kaas_ **

Malavai Quinn walked from room to room, pointing at objects and talking to the woman following behind him.

Finally, she could take no more.

“Mal, stop talking. It’s fine. Esmi and I will come here and watch your house, but you’ll be back in a few weeks at most. We’ll keep everything as is while you’re gone so I don’t need detailed instructions for every knick knack on the shelves.”

Quinn stared at the woman, his older sister, Kayda. She had always been his nemesis, his best friend, his tormentor. But now, they were about to part ways. He was going off into the abyss, and she was staying home, waiting for her first child to be born.  

“I will be back when I’ve found her. And if she returns on her own, just tell her to contact Terek. She’ll know what that means. I’ve left all this in a document with Rissa.”

Kayda knew better than to try to dissuade her brother. He was as stubborn at 40 as he had been at 4. And his love for Xhareen, who had been missing for nine months now, was boundless. Now that she was married and her wife expecting, Kayda understood how he felt.

But he was still her baby brother, and he was in real danger. He’d spent six months in prison rather than relent in his assertion that Xhareen, the Empire’s Wrath and now, apparently, the Outlander who killed the mysterious Emperor Valkorion, was still alive. He might be the smartest man in the room, but he was still so naïve about so many things in the galaxy. The thought of him out there, alone, searching in the dark for a single person …

“You really resigned your commission?” she asked, hoping to deflect her fears if nothing else.

He drew a deep breath and bit his lip. “She means more to me, and to this galaxy, than an Empire that has sidelined me for the last time. I know what Lorman is up to. I know the challenges Empress Acina faces. I know that Xhareen is the only hope for some sort of balance in a galaxy spinning out of control.”

She knew he was right. She longed for a galaxy free from the grip of the Eternal Empire and free from the constant annoyance of the Republic. She wanted a safe home for her child. She wanted to see Mal and Xhareen settle down and have children, too.

It was humbling to think that her baby brother might actually be able to make all that happen somehow.

“I know you’re right and you know how hard it is for me to admit it. I’m sending you with my blessings but you’d also better come back safe and with Xhareen by your side.”

She could feel the tears coming and she gave in to them. Malavai came over and gave her a hug, holding her until the sobbing stopped.

“Do what it takes to keep you and the rest of the family safe, Kayda. And to be honest, if it means protecting your safety or health, I don’t care about the knick knacks. If I lose Xhareen, nothing she put in this house will make up for that. So, take what you need to keep this family going. Sell it all if you must.”

They huddled for a few moments until he broke away. “I need to finish packing my bag. My shuttle leaves in three hours.”

“I love you, dork face,” she said.

“I love you, too, Kayda. You always forced me to be better, so just know that I’m going out there stronger because of you.”

Twenty minutes later, he was gone. And the galaxy that had already turned upside down would just keep spinning.


	5. Remember. You Have to Remember.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn, while he's out on the hunt for his wife. He thinks she's in hiding with a rebel group or something, so he has been travelling the galaxy, hunting down every lead he can get about resistance movements, malcontents, etc ... He's here on Vulta, the world featured in the SWTOR book _Deceived_.

**_On Vulta, in the capital city, Drom_**  

It would be easier to think she was dead and move on. 

It was the rational assumption; after more than three years stumbling his way across the galaxy, tracking down every known opposition group, every known malcontent, Quinn was no closer to finding Xhareen than he had been that horrible day when Darth Marr’s ship exploded. 

He could still feel her, though. Their Force bond had not been broken. She was not dead, not even when saying so would have spared him prison at Lorman’s hand. 

His last thought was that Arcann had put her in prison as well. But then, how he could keep her locked up without her finding a way to break out? The thought kept him awake at night. Was she injured? Drugged? Kept locked in cortosis? 

He had stopped marking the number of days since she left. And yet, he knew she would laugh to hear it. Deny he was able to stop keeping track of every detail. She would tease him about it. He would blush. One of them would start removing clothing. Both of them would wind up naked. And after the passion, she would always, without fail, remind him that she loved him exactly as he was and to please, never change. 

_I am so sorry, my love. This has changed me. I am not the man you left at the spaceport, desperately clinging to you before you turned to leave._

_I am a man without an empire now. I am a hunter, like you. The Pursuer. You are my quarry. And I will not stop badgering. I will not stop challenging. I will not stop moving. I will not stop looking at every face that approaches me until you are in my arms again._  

The face he was staring into now was not Xhareen. It was that of a Rodian smuggler known to be trafficking in goods from Zakuul. A contact told another contact who told a bartender on Naboo that if anyone knew about resistance groups in Wild Space, it was this hapless fellow. 

But he’d proven either quite ignorant or quite resistant to questioning. Quinn grabbed the small man by his vest and lifted him off the ground.   

“Remember. You have to remember!” By now, Quinn was so frustrated he gave up his fake local accent. 

“I told you, Empire, I only ever go to Vandin. Nobody there but miners. Bored miners who like their forbidden goods. No dissidents there!” 

He had to find this mysterious singer who looked like Xhareen. A singer in the same bar on Naboo as the questionably helpful bartender thought she recognized the woman in the flimsi – the wedding picture on Yavin that Vette had made for him. 

He had to follow every lead. Even after three years, he was still turning up new information. He had to keep going. He had to find her. He’d rip this runt in two if he had to …

No. He couldn’t lose himself in the process. 

Badgering he was good at. Challenging authority was his gift. But threats were of no use. Violence wouldn’t work. They weren’t who he was, not even now. He could change, but he wouldn’t become a monster. 

He let the Rodian go. 

He picked up a credstick the Rodian had dropped. Maybe it had enough on it to get him to Yinta Lake where he could get a hot meal and follow more leads. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had real food.


	6. But You're Not Going to Like It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during Knights of the Fallen Empire, Chapter 4

**_In the Endless Swamp_ **

_Finally_ , Lana sighed to herself, as they landed the speeders on a remote shore that appeared to be free of both creatures and Skytroopers.

She had finally managed to arrange things despite their precarious situation so that she and Xhareen could spend some time alone, searching for fresh water. There was much to talk about, and Lana wanted her to be prepared for where they were going next, assuming they made it out of this dismal swamp alive.

They made it to a cave that seemed both deserted and with a welcome supply of fresh water. After sensors declared it safe, Xhareen immediately stripped down and jumped in.

“Funny to think I haven’t had a bath or shower in five years,” she said.

Except she didn’t sound like she was in a comedic mood at all. This was Lana’s biggest fear about rescuing her after so long. She’d been great in the fight to escape the Spire, and carried her weight now that they were forced to deal with their ship crashing.

But was she ready to hear the answers to the questions she was inevitably going to ask?

Xhareen emerged from the water and sat on a stump while Lana took her turn getting clean. When she got out, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a compressed packet that, when opened, produced a towel suitable for drying them both off.

“I was hoping we’d find a place to do this,” Lana said. “Thought I’d come prepared.”

Xhareen nodded, which Lana took as her way of saying thanks.

“And I was hoping I could finally ask you what I need to ask you,” Xhareen said.

“Go ahead. We have time.”

“I know you said you looked for my husband and my crew, that you had people working on it but no hard leads. But I know you know more than you’re letting on.”

Lana knew she stood no chance lying or hiding the truth for very long; she’d experienced the Wrath’s laser-honed instincts many times when they were hunting and fighting Revan.

“I’ll tell you this, but you’re not going to like it.” She took a moment to finish buckling her belt, but Xhareen was done with her delays.

“If you don’t tell me right now, I’m stealing a ship and heading back to Dromund Kaas, where I will live quietly off the grid until my husband comes home to me, thwarting whatever plans you have made for me in my absence.”

Lana motioned for her to sit down again, now that she had dressed, too. “Quinn advocated for the Empire to search for you so hard and for so long that he angered all the wrong people. He was thrown into prison …”

Xhareen gasped so loudly, Lana stopped to let her catch her breath and her wits.

“I’ll break him out by myself if I have to, Lana. That’s just the worst poss…”

“Save it. He was released after about six months, turned down a job as Empress Acina’s aide, and left the planet, looking for you. His family is safe, still in Kaas City. That’s all I know, I swear to you. He’s crafty, and has stayed out of sight for more than four years. The only way for the two of you to be reunited is if you – and it must be you, Wrath – deal with Arcann and the Eternal Throne.”

Xhareen sat quietly for several moments; Lana let her be.

“OK, Lana,” she said, eventually. “Know this: Defeating Arcann and the throne are my objectives, but finding my husband is my goal. Everything I do is for him. Then I find my crew. Anything or anyone that interferes will be obliterated or ignored.”

Lana nodded and kept her disappointment to herself. She wanted a stronger commitment from Xhareen to be the Alliance leader. Everything she and Koth and Theron had built was for Xhareen to lead.

She hadn’t counted on her devotion to her Imperial to be so strong, or vice versa. And it would have been nice having him in Acina’s camp; surely, he could have helped Lana find Xhareen sooner. Lana knew it was a risk, putting all this on the Wrath, and that she might have to re-think some of her long-conceived of plans.

“Turn that energy against Arcann first, Xhareen. Then I know we shall prevail.”


	7. I Hope You Have a Speech Prepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New beginning to Knights of the Fallen Empire, Chapter 9

**_Day One on Odessen_ **

The Gravestone’s shuttle touched down after a short flight onto a surprisingly smooth plateau next to a massive mountain peak. As they emerged, a cargo shuttle flew overhead, a strange domed structure swinging from its belly.

Xhareen stepped out of the ship and stood on the landing zone, watching as dozens of workers used poles to catch the hovering dome and lower it into place on another plateau. Within a few minutes, they were busily working to attach the structure and make it safe and functional.

Everywhere she looked, dozens of people were busy doing tasks, running in and out of warrens carved into the mountain that now housed the Alliance base. It would be the first of dozens of structures built on this lush, green planet that Lana had handpicked for the job. “Balanced in the Force,” she had explained on the flight here.

The team on the shuttle – her rescuers from Arcann’s carbonite prison – led her to the far side of the mountain over a narrow path. “Building a wider catwalk to get to your private landing zone is next up,” Koth reassured her. When they got to their destination, they were greeted by a wide but shallow natural opening in the side of the mountain that looked exactly like a grin.

“There’s a huge cavern behind this that we want for a military hangar,” explained a Bothan in Republic military uniform who was now standing beside her.

“You’re Bey'wan Aygo. Admiral Aygo,” Xhareen said. Thankfully, Lana had briefed her on the top-ranking officials who had volunteered to work with the fledgling Alliance.

“Please to meet you, Commander,” he said, saluting.

“And you, too, Admiral. I hear you’re going to lead the troops.”

“Yes, sir. Your troops.”

She still hadn’t absorbed all that Lana had told her since her rescue. Hard to believe that in a matter of a few weeks to her, five years had passed, she’d been rescued, chased, escaped certain death, and she was now supposed to lead a massive resistance to a galactic superpower bent on her destruction.

“Apparently. I look forward to being briefed on the situation, Admiral,” she said.

“As do I. But first, Commander, you get to do the honors,” he said, pointing to a large drill aimed square at the open face of the mountain.

She walked over to the huge contraption and a trio of Ugnaughts gestured furtively at it, speaking so quickly her implants couldn’t adequately translate what they were saying. Then they finally pointed toward a button, which she pushed. The drill whirred in response, and the Ugnaughts gleefully grabbed hold of the controls and guided it into place.

The first breach was a success and the crowd that had assembled – now more than a hundred souls of all races and sentient species – cheered.

Lana came up behind her and elbowed her playfully in the side.

“I hope you have a speech prepared,” she said.

 _No_ , she thought to herself.  _This is something I can improvise on the spot._


	8. This Ends Now

**_On Odessen_ **

Lana tapped Xhareen on the shoulder.

“Commander. Commander? What are your orders?” she asked, her voice strained. She’d been talking, occasionally shouting, for at least 20 minutes.

Xhareen stood up and straightened her shirt. She’d been listening to them bickering for months now. She thought everyone would work things out on their own. She was wrong. She’d pushed the task of trying to keep the peace off onto Lana and occasionally Theron. Another mistake, and grossly unfair to the two people she couldn’t do this job without.

“My orders are for everyone to go to the cantina. Or your quarters. Anywhere but here,” she said, smacking the table before walking away.

“What about the mission plan, sir?” Aric Jorgan asked.

“There is no mission. If you all can’t stop arguing, how can I trust you’ll do what needs to be done in the field?” Xhareen turned and faced Jorgan first, who at least had been a little less grouchy today. Then to Kaliyo, whose smirks could melt durasteel. She was surprised Jorgan’s hair wasn’t singed half the time.

“I guess I earned that,” Jorgan said, looking down at the floor.

“Hey, share some of that credit at least, Captain Paws,” Kaliyo said.

“Oh will you just stow it, Anarchist? At least the major knows how to lead a squad.” That was Senya, who had never gotten over Xhareen’s decision to recruit Kaliyo to the Alliance. Senya wasn’t always wrong, though, Xhareen thought bitterly.

“Yeah, like you’re the paragon of peace now,” Koth said, in his well-practiced “I was talking under my breath but loud enough so everyone could hear me clearly” voice. Xhareen owed Koth her life, but he wouldn’t accept being forced to work with the woman whose job it had been to hunt him down after he went AWOL. She thought everyone was happiest – Koth included – when he was left alone to tinker with the Gravestone.

Xhareen picked up the nearest datapad and as she slammed it into non-existence, said, “I’ve heard enough. This ends now.”

Everyone stopped talking.

She turned back to the command table. An image of the Spire, from which Arcann terrorized the galaxy in his hunt for the Alliance fighting to oust him, glowed and spun from the holoterminal in the table’s center.

“If we can’t get along, if we cannot model cooperation and acceptance for the thousands of people who’ve come here to fight along with us, then what is the point? Arcann will win. I might as well just go back into carbonite.”

No one said anything. Xhareen got up and walked out.

She wished more than normal today that Malavai were here. He would have given her a plan of attack to quell the dissent weeks ago. She’d waited too long now, she feared.They’d never get along. 

How could she think about healing a galaxy when she couldn’t even get her most trusted inner circle to stop fighting?


	9. Who Could Do This?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Outlander is still in carbonite. After more than three years searching for her, Quinn realizes Xhareen isn't going to be found by him flitting about the galaxy. So he heads back to where his life began anew, Balmorra. He knows if he stays there, she'll find him. He joins up with a band of refugees and former military types to live in the husk of the Okara Droid Factory, where they make various electronic parts from the leftover supplies in the factory, to sell for survival needs like food and clean water.

**_On Balmorra_ **

Quinn paced back and forth near the door on the workroom floor. According to protocols – ones he recommended and helped shape – only one senior commander at a time could go out of the factory on any mission. Including diplomatic forays to the rebel headquarters.

There were still dozens of radical factions out there still. Thieves, really. Roadside raiders who would pick off convoys either for supplies they needed, or for any goods they could smuggle to sell to other settlements on the fractured world, or sneak off-planet to the larger black market.

He had to admit, things had gotten worse since the Star Fortress had mysteriously been destroyed. Fear of the Eternal Throne and the Skytrooper patrols had kept the brigands at bay. Recently, they seemed intent on taking down this outpost, though they likely had no idea the base could be scuttled and they’d be left with nothing but rubble.

Now, it seems, they had seriously wounded Commander Linness, a former Republic lieutenant colonel, and a leader Quinn had come to respect in the 10 months since he found himself back on the planet of his earlier exile.

As her de facto second in command, when she went out on a mission, he was required to stay in the heart of the base, where the civilians lived and worked, producing droid replacement parts and various electronics in the heart of the old Okara factory. He was to keep them safe, and if necessary, be the one to set the base to self destruct and get the civilians out via the sealed back exit and into a series of only sparsely mapped tunnels. The existence of this exit was known only to the handful of command staff, whose ranks Quinn had joined shortly after his arrival – when his past became known.

Linness’ mission was supposed to be a routine trip to the rebel capital to meet with their leader, a Twi’lek of some renown who had come to power after Quinn had left the planet in Xhareen’s employ.

“Hey, Quinn, we need you up here,” came a voice over the comm system. It was Felix Iresso, whom Xhareen had befriended on Yavin what seemed like a lifetime ago.

“I need another command-line officer to buzz me out,” Quinn said. Another requirement: Two officers were required to approve major decisions, assuming there were at least two left alive. That included declaring an official base emergency at an end, allowing command staff free movement.

“I’ve got it,” came a female voice, her searingly sharp Imperial accent belying her former Republic status. She preferred to keep her old Havoc Squad rank, so she went by Capt. Elara Dorne.

The door opened and Quinn ran to the holding area near the topside hatch, the only way in or out of the underground portion of the factory.

The scene was not reassuring. Commander Linness had taken a sniper shot to the neck. Though Dorne, a competent medic, had a kolto brace working furiously to close the wound, the large blood trail leading to where her body lay on the duracrete floor indicated it might have been too late.

“Who would do this?” Quinn asked, without thinking.

“We think it was the rogue band from Kanikat village, sir,” a large, young former Imperial corporal, her armor covered in blood, said. Felix was helping her remove her armor, checking her for wounds. She seemed nearly in shock herself.

Quinn hadn’t meant the question literally, but that made sense. Intel received last week from the settlement in the old Balmorran Arms factory warned them the group had moved into this area.

“Dorne, is there anything I can do?” Quinn asked.

Elara gave him a sad, worried look, but then added aloud, “No, I’ve got it under control.”

She knew she didn’t.

The commander, a human woman in her late 40s, opened her eyes and tried to speak. Dorne urged her not to. She beckoned for a datapad to write on.

Quinn knelt by her side. “Commander, I’m here.”

She typed out onto the pad, “yours now Q.”

“Of course, I will see to things while you’re recuperating, Commander.”

She shook her head until Dorne begged her to stop. “You’ll dislodge the kolto brace, sir,” Elara said, her voice breaking.

“No gett out ths,” the commander typed. Then she dropped the pad and the stylus. A red alarm on the kolto brace indicated imminent cardiovascular collapse.

Within a few minutes, she was gone. The four of them stood there in silence for several more.

“Quinn, guess you’re in charge now,” Felix said finally. “Elara and I will take her down to the morgue.”

No, he didn’t want to do this. Sure, he knew all the routines, all the protocols. He could operate or help operate nearly every machine this band of refugees had rescued from the ruins of the building. He knew logistics, security, military engagement tactics, self defense … did it really matter?

Who  _could_  do this? Who could possibly keep everyone here safe?

Arcann had been defeated – by Xhareen, Quinn was certain of that even though no one would say for certain if this newest incarnation of the Outlander was indeed the same Outlander who had killed Valkorion nearly six years ago, outraging an already militant and dangerous Eternal Empire of Zakuul. Maybe it was time they resurfaced, asked for help defeating the raiders. Maybe they should all join the Alliance.

That’s what Quinn had quietly been planning to do. He’d made contact with a representative – a Bothan trader – two days ago and was told a recruiting team was on its way. All he had to do was get to the rebel capital, a four-hour flight.

If he had only been able to leave two days ago.

_Two days._

But he had a duty and a responsibility to fulfill. These people had saved him from the despair that infused him to his core when he arrived after years of fruitless searching for Xhareen.

_Who could do this?_  He could.

“I accept the job. But my first order of business will be to train my replacement. Because whether I go to her or she comes to me, I will be reunited with my wife.”


	10. But I Will Never Forget

**On Odessen**

Lana Beniko took a deep breath before attempting again.

“Commander, you shouldn’t go out on this recruiting trip. It’s not critical to your mission.”

Xhareen waved her off as she did every time they had had this conversation in the last four days.

“I listened to you every other time, Lana. This time, I’m listening to Sana Rae. And before you interrupt me again, I’m going with my heart. I know you are skeptical because he’s not a Force user, but my husband and I share a bond. I know he’s out there. I sense him through the Force. He’s waiting for me. And Sana Rae’s vision …”

“All Sana Rae’s vision said was for you to ‘follow this path.’ Even she didn’t know what path.”

“Yes, and immediately after I walked out of the enclave, Pierce presented me with the itinerary for his next recruitment trip. This trip. Then Vette came running down the corridor to tell me that our Dromund Kaas contact reported in that Malavai’s family were safe. HK-51 took a shift as my guard that wasn’t on the schedule for reasons he couldn’t explain. Broonmark and Treek came to report a new species of potential livestock they saw in the forest. And that newcomer, Darth Hexid, tracked me down to tell me she’d heard of Jaesa. All within three minutes, Lana. I refuse to believe that’s a coincidence. All my original crew. Except for the person I want most.”

Lana was beginning to think maybe the Jedi with their aversion to attachments were onto something. She couldn’t decide which was worse: that Xhareen was distracted because she missed her husband, or the thought that he would inevitably become a distraction if he were here.

“You defeated Arcann, Xhareen. SCORPIO has vowed your destruction. Vaylin will kill anyone who stands in her way of getting back at her mother and she’ll kill you just for fun. Now is the time for you to remain here, building this alliance into a power that even Vaylin can’t deny.”

Xhareen walked over and took Lana by the shoulders. It wasn’t an aggressive move, but Lana still shuddered at the strength of her Force aura. “Power isn’t just about military might, Lana. It’s not about arming thousands of soldiers and a fleet of ships. It’s about passion. That’s what makes us Sith. You might have forgotten why we’re doing this, but I will never forget.”

Xhareen let go of her grip, hugged Lana and walked out of the command center. She wasn’t wrong. Lana just hoped her worst fear didn’t come to pass. This Alliance needed its commander. Lana needed her to do all the things she and Theron couldn’t. Whether she accepted it or not, Xhareen was the beating heart of the Alliance and the Alliance had to prevail.

Would all of this be squandered over love?

**On Balmorra**

Felix Iresso stood at the bottom of the ladder leading to the topside hatch, the first – or was it the last? – shield that kept the inhabitants of the former Okara Droid Factory safe from the world outside.

“Commander, you shouldn’t go out there. We haven’t scouted yet today. And I’m not sure I can go through losing another commander.”

The tall man, his patched Balmorran Security uniform hanging loosely from his shoulders, nodded. “Yes, Capt. Iresso, I am familiar with the protocol. I initiated it. And I am aware of the risks. I just … I need some actual fresh air. I need to see the sky. The perimeter sensors show no unfriendlies in the vicinity.”

Felix pulled out his comm. “Let me at least go with you. I’ll let Elara know.”

Malavai Quinn waved him off. “Don’t worry Capt. Dorne over this. I promise, I’ll be out there for three minutes, no more.”

“Can you at least tell me why you’re looking to be sniper bait?” he asked. “ ’Cuz I’m having a hard time thinking of a good reason why you’d do something so dangerous. It’s not your play, Commander.”

He watched as the face of this former Imperial major, who preached discipline and rules, fell with the same weight of sadness that had enveloped most of the galaxy.

“She’s out there, Felix. I can feel her. Stronger than ever. I just want to … I know this sounds silly … I just want her to know I am, too. That I am waiting for her. It’s easier to feel the connection when I’m topside.”

Felix nodded. “Explains why you’ve gone on more scouting missions than is prudent.”

Quinn held up his hand, his fingers extended. “Five in three months. Not too many.”

Both men smiled. “You can take the man out of the military …” Felix began.

“But you can’t take the duty out of the man. I must admit, even though we live like Selonians down here, I enjoy the challenge. I swear to you, though, I will never return to the military.”

Again, the sadness crossed his face, as obvious as the stubble on his unshaven face.

“So many of the people here are hiding from something or someone,” Quinn said. “Quite often, from themselves. They’ve forgotten what the outside world is like. They’ve forgotten their family and friends. I know it’s what they must do to survive. But I will never forget. Not a love like that.”

Felix smiled. He knew what love was; he would never forget, either. Even if love had slipped from his hands like the hot sands of Tatooine.

“OK, but only because it’s for love. And I won’t tell Elara, but only if you let me come with you. Three minutes, right?”

Quinn smiled broadly. “Right. Lead the way.”


	11. Impressive, Truly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> By 2016, it felt like BioWare was never going to bring back our missing companions, so I wrote a wishfic where they would all start returning much faster. Quinn and his wife Xhareen are reunited shortly after Arcann is defeated in Knights of the Fallen Empire Chapter 16.

**_Landing on Odessen_ **

As the shuttle landed and Quinn got a better look at the base, he understood why Xhareen refused to tell him any real details of what the Alliance had built here.

She was coy, and enticing as always as she toyed with him, that “I have a secret and you can’t guess it, Capt. Smartypants” attitude usually ending up with them taking time back in her cabin on board the Republic battleship she’d re-purposed as a portable command center.

It clearly was easy for her, this subterfuge. For so long, they had recruited hundreds, if not thousands, of people for the fight without even telling them where they were going. There were layers upon layers of secrecy, cells of support isolated from other cells of support. Underworld contacts whose stock in trade was secrecy. All to keep their location hidden from Arcann and his indomitable Eternal Fleet.

She nearly lost it, she did manage to tell him on the way here, when Arcann bombed five random planets nearly out of the galaxy. Looking for her, and her followers. They were annoyances and she had something he wanted: his father inside her head.

Quinn could still barely wrap his own head around that fact and it nagged at the back of every moment he was awake, and a few when he was asleep.

Then she triumphed. She beat Arcann and if not for yet another person close to her betraying her, she would have him in custody. He couldn’t help himself, he did cry when she told him that part.

But now the whole galaxy knew where salvation would come from, a green, untouched world called Odessen.

As he debarked, Xhareen grabbed his hand and they ran together down the footpath that led to an improbable entryway carved into the mountain. Halfway there, he stopped. She let go of his hand.

“What’s wrong, Malavai?” she asked, with just that slightest touch of uncertainty in her voice that she only showed to him and the few people closest to her. But mostly to him. Sometimes, it beat him up with guilt that he could have this kind of power over arguably the most powerful Sith in the galaxy, that even the suggestion of insufficiency could waylay her from her inevitable destiny.

“Nothing, my love. It’s just this, all of this, I’m speechless.”

But as she always did, she regrouped quickly and stood ready for the challenge, her smile lighting up her entire face. “Pretty neat, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “Impressive, truly.”

It was. So was she. For the first time in six years, he felt like they could win.


	12. You Should Have Seen It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I also wrote about Quinn & Xhareen in their favorite place on Odessen [ **here**](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F10806651&t=YjQzZmJlNmYwZjg2MDg5N2Y0MDg2ODUwM2U1ODljNDNkNDIwNzkxZCxQd0lZc2pzMQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AhszoM1qXjfhqZ94AhaU-oQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Faliyamirat.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F179180281136%2Fyou-should-have-seen-it&m=1)._

**_On Odessen_ **

Just when Malavai Quinn felt he was settling into his new role in the Alliance, and into his new environment here on Odessen, he could sense Xhareen was not doing well.

She would toss about in her sleep and get up several times a night. Most mornings, she was up and dressed and gone from their quarters before Quinn even woke up – the most alarming sign, as this was never the case with Xhareen before they’d been separated by her incarceration in carbonite.

He had discreetly spoken with Dr. Lokin to make sure there were no physical reasons – the doctor offering only that she had been coping poorly with her anxiety, but then who here wasn’t?

Surprisingly, Quinn thought, he himself. He enjoyed what he was doing, how he was able to contribute. But that was of little comfort when the woman he loved was hurting.

He had thought perhaps to get her to talk about her experiences on Zakuul. He’d reviewed every file he’d been granted access to (and, thanks to Vette, a few he hadn’t). But he wanted to see it for himself: not just because he needed to know everything about the enemy, but because it sounded fantastic.

He caught her leaving the command center and begged her to come with him. They went to their favorite spot on the base, inside the main hangar where the large, natural opening overlooked a wooded valley below.

They sat side by side on the cool stones, taking in the breeze for a few moments.

“OK, Malavai, what are your ulterior motives for bringing me here?” she asked playfully.

“Tell me about Zakuul. Everything, anything. Just sit here and talk to me.” He tried to keep the begging from his voice but was also certain he’d failed.

“It’s beautiful. Frightening and tragic,” she said, instinctively bringing her knees up close to her chest. “It’s like what Kaas City could have been with better weather. And I’ve only seen it while running or sneaking about tunnels it seems.”

She went on to describe some of what she’d seen on her adventures: SCORPIO’s lair, the Heralds’ stronghold, Kaliyo’s apartment. The beautiful and the grotesque. She left out the Spire where she’d confronted Valkorion and then been punished for it, but Quinn figured that was a story for a later time.

He could feel her spirit lightening and she even laughed a few times. But then she got quiet for a few moments before continuing.

“You should have seen it. All of it. You should have been with me.” She stiffened her shoulders and pulled away from him. She stared off into the distance, then put her head down on her arms and said no more.

The way she said it, it was more of a mandate, a reproof, than just an expression. She was angry with … he couldn’t say … the Force? The universe? Certainly the Eternal Throne for the crime of keeping the two of them apart. But he knew she wasn’t angry with him. She had been the one who prevented him from joining her on Darth Marr’s ship; she had been adamant:  _If you come with me, you will die._

Quinn put his arm around her, and she relaxed a bit. “I was there with you the whole time, my love. Our bond is stronger than any distance separating us, than any tyrant opposing us.”

_And I’m certain_ , he thought to himself,  _there will be so much more for us to see. Together._

 


	13. Oh Please. Like This is the Worst Thing I Have Ever Done.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new side to Quinn?

**_On Odessen_**  

Xhareen walked into her quarters to find Malavai shuffling through a pazaak deck, and taking notes on a datapad. Next to him, a holovid played what could only be a Mon Calamari giving a maths lecture in the Star Cluster Casino on Nar Shaddaa. 

“Hello, darling,” he said, not looking up, as though this were a normal activity. 

“Malavai, what the …” 

“Just perfecting my game.” 

His game? Yes, they had been separated for six years, twice as long as they had been together and yes, they had both changed quite a bit in that time. But Quinn’s only “game,” at least that Xhareen remembered, was finding better ways to be a good officer. Though she didn’t mind him practicing his other game, the one that made him a great lover. 

“Gambling?” That was the only intelligent thing able to emerge from her mouth. 

“Yes, It’s quite lucrative.” 

They had everything they needed, at least for immediate survival, here on base. Sure, there were long-term concerns about funding the Alliance, but nothing that could be solved at the pazaak table. She had no idea what he was on about. 

“Why do you need the credits?” 

He looked up at her then, as though suddenly comprehending her confusion. 

“I’m not playing for credits now, just honor. Gault and I have unfinished business.” 

Now that was something: No one had beaten Gault at pazaak since he arrived on the base. Not even Lana, who admitted privately she had cheated by trying to use the Force on him to no avail. 

“When did you become such a grifter, husband?” Xhareen asked, more than a little turned on as well as confused. 

“Oh, I have no plans to cheat or  _grift_ , as you call it, my love,” he said, turning his face back toward the holo lecture. “When I could no longer access our funds, I had to find creative ways to finance my travels. Gambling is just mathematics. And I had excellent instructors in both prep school and the Academy.” 

Xhareen just stood there, gobsmacked. 

“What’s your grand plan, then?” she asked. 

“Merely a simple game of cards. And maybe a bit of subterfuge, or at least feigning that I am not as good as I really am.” 

“So you’re going to scam my chief of scam operations?” 

He laughed and got up from the table, coming over to her. 

“I was on my own for five years. I had to do plenty of things I am not proud of.” 

She scoffed. 

“Oh please. Like this is the worst I have ever done,” he said as he took her in his arms. 

“Malavai Quinn, did you just joke about colossal loss and suffering for years on end?” 

He pulled back and inclined his head as though in deep thought. “I believe I did, yes.” 

She fell back into his arms. If he could get through what he’d been through, then so could she. 


End file.
